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get the drop on
Slang Dictionary

drop (so) definition


  1. tv.
    to knock someone down; to punch and knock down a person. : Fred dropped Mooshoo with one punch to the jaw.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Slang Dictionary

get the drop on (so) definition


  1. tv.
    to succeed in getting an advantage over someone. : I got the drop on almost everybody by sending in my registration by mail.
  2. tv.
    [for person A] to manage to get a gun aimed at person B before person B can aim back at person A. (The gun is then dropped by person B.) : Rocko got the drop on Shorty in a flash.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases

get the drop on

Also, get or have the jump on. Achieve a distinct advantage over someone, especially through early or quick action; get a head start. For example, Their book on electronic communication has the drop on all the others, or We really got the jump on the competition. The first of these slangy expressions dates from the mid-1800s and originally alluded to pointing one's gun at someone before he pointed his at you. It was transferred to more general use by about 1900. The second, which uses jump in the sense of "start," dates from about 1900.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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